NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- A national task force from
the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA)
recently reported that the current survey and certification processes used
to evaluate long-term care facilities nationwide is broken and beyond
repair.

After a thorough investigation into survey and certification protocol
across the country, the task force concluded in its final report, "Broken
and Beyond Repair: Recommendations to Reform the Survey and Certification
System," that an independent, broad-based national panel of experts should
be convened to re-examine the oversight process for nursing homes.

The report's 31 recommendations address short-term and long-term
solutions, including improved communication to surveyors and providers
about new requirements and changes to the survey process, standardized job
descriptions for surveyors, more efficient use of survey resources, and
flexibility to adapt to culture change. The task force's overarching
recommendation is that an independent commission, such as the Institute of
Medicine, re-examine the survey and certification process to "create a
common vision for how our nation should care for its frailest citizens and
to recommend a new oversight model for ensuring that this vision becomes
reality in every nursing home today."

This report hits home in Tennessee, where the trend of increased
admission suspensions continues for the second consecutive year, with 16
facilities forced to remit significant fines and suspend new patient
admissions so far in 2008, following 29 in 2007. This comes as a result of
violations reported under the current survey system.

Co-chair of the 20-member task force and CEO of Hebrew Health Care in
West Hartford, Conn. Bonnie Gauthier acknowledged that, "Our short-term
suggestions alone won't bring the system back to the intent of OBRA
87-achieving optimal, quality-based, resident-centered care-but they will
tide the system over until broad systemic change can occur." Immediate
changes needed, according to the report, include better public reporting of
survey results, joint education of providers and surveyors, and greater
overall consistency in the process.

TNAHSA, Tennessee's AAHSA affiliate, works closely with the Department
of Health in an ongoing effort to provide updated and accurate information
to licensed providers of long-term care services, according to TNAHSA
Executive Director Carrie Ermshar.

"Because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services play a
significant role in the certification process, the solution must address
procedures at the state and federal levels," said Ermshar. "We have
encouraged enhanced training for Tennessee Department of Health licensure
surveyors and we are seeing tremendous efforts to improve communications
between surveyors and facilities. We have a great team of providers,
lawmakers and surveyors in Tennessee and we all share the common goal of
providing excellent patient care."

To inform its conclusions, the report includes a digest of interviews
with survey agency representatives from seven states and a catalog of
surveyor job descriptions from numerous states.

Timothy L. Veno, president and CEO of the Kentucky Association of Homes
and Services for the Aging (KAHSA) and a co-chair of the task force, said
that, "The frustration of good providers has reached a boiling point." Veno
added, "We have to help shape a better system of consumer protection for
residents."

Larry Minnix, AAHSA's president and CEO, said the task force captured
the demoralization of providers who feel caught in a vicious circle. "We
have to break the cycle of fear that paralyzes us all: consumers fear
nursing homes, nursing homes fear the state, states fear the federal
government, the federal government fears Congress and Congress fears
voters," Minnix said. "This system is broken and can't be fixed. A system
based on consistency, fairness and accuracy will help us move toward the
day when there are two types of nursing homes: the excellent and the
non-existent."

TNAHSA represents skilled nursing facilities, assisted living
facilities, senior housing services and various agencies serving senior
adults throughout Tennessee. An affiliate of the American Association of
Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), TNAHSA provides leadership,
advocacy, education and communication services. For more information about
TNAHSA, please visit http://www.tnahsa.org or call 615-256-1800.

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